Scientists Say Cannabis is Most Effective Medicine

Chuck Ludley

Medicinal cannabis just received a big boost of support in a recent study published by scientists in Canada.

In the article, researchers Thomas Kerr, Julio Montaner, and Stephanie Lake claim that cannabis is a much more effective and safer form of medicine than the opioid painkillers doctors usually prescribe to patients.

“The evidence supporting the therapeutic use of cannabis is actually much stronger than the use of other drugs that are used to treat the same conditions and it also seems, in many cases, that cannabis has a more favorable side-effect profile,” Dr. Kerr, one of the authors of the report, told The Globe and Mail.

As debates about the effectiveness of medicinal marijuana continue throughout the country, this latest study provides a powerful piece of scientific evidence in support of medical cannabis.

In particular, the scientists who wrote the paper say that cannabis is a safe and effective way to treat a variety of medical issues including neuropathic pain, conditions associated with HIV/AIDS, nausea from chemotherapy, chronic pain, and a variety of other health concerns.

Dr. Kerr said that while opioids such as oxycodone, hydromorphone, and morphine are some of the most frequently prescribed painkillers in North America, they are not nearly as effective or safe as marijuana.

“Opioids are killing people right now,” said Dr. Kerr. “There is no association with cannabis and mortality, and yet North America is in the midst of, really, what is a public-health emergency associated to opioid overdose deaths.”

The study found that opioids contribute to nearly half of all overdose deaths in Canada, and that states in the U.S. that have legalized medical marijuana have seen a 25 percent drop in fatal overdoses.

“When it comes to prescription marijuana, patients’ needs should be considered above political considerations,” study co-author Dr. Julio Montaner told CBC News. “There could be great harm in ignoring the medical uses of marijuana.”

With this latest piece of support coming from the scientific community, the case for using medical marijuana to treat a variety of health issues seems to be getting stronger and stronger.

“If we can enhance access to medicinal cannabis for the right conditions it may have the positive effect of reducing prescription opioid misuse and the associated overdose epidemic,” says Kerr.